I mentioned Holiday Sands to a friend the other day and we reminisced about the fun summer days we spent there. We were both divers on the Cleveland State swim team in the 70s and it was great to go there and play on the boards (and other stuff). Sad that it's closed...of course the sport of diving along with a lot of other great recreational pursuits is paying the price for the high cost of liability insurance. Living out west for the past 25 years, I always marvel at the no restraining bar, 50 feet off the ground chair lift I ride to take crazy night runs during snowstorms at the local ski areas. Got to be as high risk as anything anyone ever did at Holiday Sands! Anyhow...thanks for the great discussion. I came in at the end and got the benefit from all of your great sleuthing.

It's been 10 years since my last visit to Holiday Sands, when I was younger. I'd like to take some relatives there, but I can't find any contact info. I've been told it was in Ravenna, but there's no phonebook listing. It sounds to me like it went out of business. This is unfortunate, as I thought it really had something unique to offer. If anybody could fill me in on its status, it would be much appreciated.

Yes Holiday Sands was in Ravenna, It has been closed down for over 5 years.

TerryWe also went to holiday sands as kids. My father was head of the lifegaurds in the 70's his name was Stan Valee. We were the little kids that could run everybody off the barrels and could cross the rings with no problem. We were there everyday in the summer from dusk till dawn for at least 10 years. Our parents taught water saftey lessons there. Really miss going there.

What a coincidence I saw this. I used to go to Holiday Sands too...in the late 80's and early 90's and loved it. I remember getting the worst sunburn ever there on July 4th one year. As sad as it is to see it has closed, it's not surprising. I can only imagine how much it costs to insure that place.

Someone posted about Dover Lake being closed. It is still up and running during the summer. I think a few years ago it was closed, but was reopened. Wildwood Lake Park has been closed for over a decade (I think).

I will always have great memories of Holiday Sands. I love to remember those great places (also Shady Lake). Very sad to see those go.

How sad. I looked up Holiday Sands and was so sorry to see it gone. I lived in Bratenahl and discovered it in the late 60's in high school and went there through mid 70's. Such a cool park with the big slide, the rings across the lake, the barrels, diving boards, and all. We have lots of water parks here but they just aren't the same. We will miss you Holiday Sands.

Oh the memories of that fun place I used to go home with blisters from running those barrells all day and some of my friends that used to go there remember the infamous ... "WATER SAFETY CHECK" AND " THE BUDDY SYSTEM" .announcements hahah great times

I remember going there as a young kid. that place was such an awesome place. The paddle boats, the woods, the giant slide, lake crossing rings, swinging rings, mushrooms, barrels, diving boards. It was a stuntkid's paradise. I can understand why it is closed with insurance liabilities and lawsuit crazy people. I remember being there when the Eric Clapton son "Cocaine" was popular. That song was played non-stop on the jukebox at the snack bar. I remember that jukebox being very loud too.The giant slide always gave you a nice wedgie as you skated over the water.

Talk about memories...I went there in the late 60' early 70's as a kid with the family. Here's what I remember.

BIG PICTURE. They had trails through the woods. A few open fields to play ball and a driving range to hit golf balls near the entrance. THE LAKE. Only half of the lake was for swimming, the other half was roped off for paddle-boats. WATER FEATURES.(There was a dock in the shallow end with the following features).Small SlideSmall RingsHalf meter Diving board

Don't forget the fountain with the Frogs spitting water.

In the middle of the lake Separate were two Tops/Mushrooms, the Medium Slide and a couple docks.

Along the south side as you passed the snack bar there was the swing out Rings platform. There was a single ring and a two ring setup.(I thought I was the sh__ when I pulled the one and a half gainers from the rings)There was a diving area with about 4 1 meter boards and two 3 meter boards.at the ease buoy line were the famous rings that crossed the entire lake. It was hard enought o cross but became a tactical war game when someone from the other side would meet you somewhere in the middle and a chicken fight of sorts would break out. The winner was usually the ond that could wrap his/her legs around the waist o the other and push them into the drink below. On the North side of the lake was the giant slide. It seemed enormous when you are 6 years old. I'm guessing it wal 75 feet tall, with a hump in the middle. The hump a;llowed the brave(stupid?) to start down on your stomach headfirst and get a little air and switch to a foot-first/on your back finish. The other favorite feature wert the two Barrels. Think lumberjack, log rolling contest. But instead of a 2' diameter log, they were about 7' in diameter and 8' long. I remember getting 3-4 others on the barrel at the same time and running for supremacy..

As a previous poster noted every hour they would play the recording that started with the whistles…. Then announce the "Water Safety Check, water safety check. Please return to the shore".

This allowed the kids with never ending energy to venture up to the playground.PLAYGROUND FEATURES included:Steel Rocket Ship, probably 40’ tallSubmarine made of concrete drainage pipesSwingsPelicans and a dog on springsA Merry Go Round.Alligator Swing. This had 5-6 seats aligned Toboggan style. This is the feature where I decided to climb on to the nose of the Gator and jump off when it reached its highest point. I must have flown 20 feet up in to the air and 30 feet out before landing and breaking my arm. Ahh, those were the days. But my favorite attraction on the beach was the contraption that resembled a Maypole. Two concentric circles were welded together and suspended by chains. The circles were "wound up" as far as possible and when released you would spin around and around. Sitting on the rings was tough but the "e ticket" was to hang on with your hands and dangle off with the centrifugal force pushing your feet out so you were in a horizontal position.

After the water safety check was over you had to listen to the pre recorded message about the “Buddy System”, never swim alone.

I can see how the insurance became too much in today’s litigious society. However thanks for the memories. I hope they will still be vivid in another 35 years.

BAD NEWS: Holiday Sands shut down about 4 or 5 years ago - rising insurance costs. Fitting considering the danger factor was part of the intrigue. Called the Kent Chamber of Commerce...said it was in Ravenna, OH and was recently purchased by Ravenna Moose Lodge. Called Ravenna M.L., they said it is the future home of their lodge. Lake is still there - catch and release fishing. But the slide, wheels, chains, swing, boards, etc are gone. The times they are a changin'.

Same as a smaller park in Randolph - Friendship Acres. Now it is just camping and swimming. They took out the swinging rope and giant slide and such - insurance!

Roy, it is now called Moose Lake, we are in fact camping there this weekend but as a cub scout troop. I'll see if I can't get some info over the weekend and post it back for you.

Roy wrote:

It's been 10 years since my last visit to Holiday Sands, when I was younger. I'd like to take some relatives there, but I can't find any contact info. I've been told it was in Ravenna, but there's no phonebook listing. It sounds to me like it went out of business. This is unfortunate, as I thought it really had something unique to offer. If anybody could fill me in on its status, it would be much appreciated.

I just googled Holiday Sands and got to this forum. We went as a fmily on several occasions when I was a kid. Now I'm a father and was thinking about bringing my family when I come back to Ohio (live in Albuquerque now.) Too bad it's closed, but I enjoyed all the comments.

Bored at work on a Friday and remebering the early 70's. Mom and dad would pack the car and off we were on a full day of fun. So sad to hear that it is closed, but reading this forum made all my memories come flooding back. Thank you all for a flashback in time that seems so long ago.

It's been 10 years since my last visit to Holiday Sands, when I was younger. I'd like to take some relatives there, but I can't find any contact info. I've been told it was in Ravenna, but there's no phonebook listing. It sounds to me like it went out of business. This is unfortunate, as I thought it really had something unique to offer. If anybody could fill me in on its status, it would be much appreciated.

WOW! I was just asking people about Holiday Sands last summer and to see this totally amazes me! I still have a home in Cleveland after first moving away in 1992. I came back to Cleveland in June to visit and was asking people again if they remembered where Holiday Sands was located but nobody could remember anything but the memories. I even remember getting $2 from my parents to go with friends and their family and I would eat at the park and then have enough money to go to McDonalds on the way home to get their 25cent cheeseburger and a fry! I wanted to return to Cleveland to open up all the places we had fun at, i.e. Holiday Sands and the return of the real Cleveland Flats! I guess no such luck. Thanks for helping me remenisce!

The Dragon!!! I remember that crazy thing. I was one of the smaller kids when the bigger kids would wind that wheel o' death up and let it go to see how long you could hold on before it whipped you off about 20 feet into the sand.

Damn lawyers and insurance. What memories, and I'm pretty sure I only made it there once.

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